First Blu-ray movie offered by BitTorrent

We reported some weeks ago that HD DVD rips of movies were floating around BitTorrent trackers and Usenet groups, with the first HD DVD to be available being "Serenity". Now it is Blu-ray's turn to be offered to the pirates after the BackupBluray tool has been released. The first Blu-Ray title reportedly appeared on the same tracker as the first HD DVD title, and it is Ice Age 2.

Weighing in at 22GB, it's quite a download. Stripping AACS from HD discs is still a complex task, requiring key extraction from memory. However, we reported a few days ago that Slysoft is looking to get in on the action with "AnyDVD HD".

Originally posted by redrumbrg: blue ray kicks hd dvd's a** the quality of blue ray is much cleaner and has a higher pixel resolution. blue ray all the way !!!!

Things like this make me laugh and cause me to want to avoid this site at times.

I don't support either format as they are both in their infancy. Blu-ray is cool, with lots of potential but with its more complex nature comes more falls. BetaMax was also created by Sony and, like quite possibly the case of Blu-ray, was technically superior quality to VHS.

However, BetaMax failed due to Sony (as far as I know) not allowing Adult Films on it. They have done the same with Blu-ray.

Years ago, it was thought the lack of support from adult-entertainment content producers toward Betamax was the reason why Sony (SNE - news - Cramer's Take - Rating) lost the video format wars in the 1980s.

It's true that Sony didn't work with adult content producers, and the Betamax standard certainly was wiped out by VHS. But that's doesn't necessarily cement a cause-and-effect relationship.

However, a similar causation theory has been recently making the rounds that the adult-film industry will drive the next-generation DVD battle between the Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats. And the idea has seemed to gain some credibility because of Sony's refusal to work with the adult entertainment industry.

So does that mean the Sony-backed Blu-ray standard will go the way of Betamax?

Not likely. This time around, Sony could be making the right moves.

The Internet changed the way adult content is viewed and delivered, and what's more, by taking the moral high ground Sony may actually be securing Blu-ray's future.

Sony has received much recent flak for its decision to not work with adult-content producers. While it hasn't said it won't allow adult-entertainment content on the Blu-ray format, it has damned content producers by not cooperating. Its disc-replicating subsidiary, Sony DADC Global, won't handle adult-film titles, and that forces producers to find another way to reproduce their content in bulk onto Blu-ray discs.

But even if many of those producers move to HD DVD, here's why it won't really matter:

In the 1980s, tapes and the neighborhood video rental store were probably the only way to get to adult content. Now much of it is viewed online. The Internet has made it easy and anonymous to get access to movies that are too embarrassing to request in person.

While Blu-ray or HD DVD may offer greater clarity, the big question is, how much does the average viewer want to sacrifice Internet anonymity for the pleasure of walking into a seedy video store in person to rent a hi-def disc?

There's another reason why Sony could be doing the right thing. The company also needs to protect its PlayStation franchise. Sony has tied the fate of its PlayStation franchise to its bet on the Blu-ray standard. Without the Blu-ray disc player, its PlayStation 3 video-game console would be a lot cheaper. At the same time, the consoles are the primary delivery vehicle for the Blu-ray players.

"Sony is trying to demonstrate they care about the home environment and what type of content can be played on a PlayStation 3," says Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research. "Its kind of patronizing that they would do such a thing, but it will appeal to parents who worry about their kids playing video games and what kind of content is available to them." And Sony's public announcements notwithstanding, it isn't completely giving up on the adult-entertainment industry. The Sony-backed Blu-ray Disc Association is trying to broker peace.

"There is not a prohibition against adult content within the Blu-ray Disc Association," said Marty Gordon, vice chair of the BDA U.S. Promotions Committee and vice president of Philips Electronics' (PHG - news - Cramer's Take - Rating) Hollywood Office. "The BDA is an open organization that welcomes the participation of all companies interested in using and supporting the format, including those that represent the full spectrum of genres in the content industry."

This way, Sony gets to have its cake and eat it too. Sony can continue to publicly not support Blu-ray but hope that the Blu-ray lobbying group can work out a better relationship with adult-content producers.

It's also worth remembering that what really won the day for VHS were cost, recording time and licensing issues with Sony.

Betamax tapes could record content for about 60 minutes, while VHS tapes were three hours long. While bulkier, VHS tapes were perfect for recording movies, and the industry took to them.

VHS tapes were also cheaper to produce -- they cost less than half of what it took with Betamax. When adult-entertainment producers opted for VHS, they signaled the winner in a battle whose conclusion seemed clear.

As with the videotape standoff, whichever DVD format consumers deem as the most user-friendly will ultimately take the commanding lead; the adult film industry will follow the leader.

when's the last time you went out and actually bought some dirty movies anyway?

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 01 Feb 2007 @ 21:55

Originally posted by hade:when's the last time you went out and actually bought some dirty movies anyway?

Although I personally do not watch Adult Films its a fact that the Industry produced $12 billion in 2006 alone says that although you and I might not be buying Pr0n subscriptions or DVDs someone has to be. DVDs are made and sold at stores, although not where you can see them obviously. DVDs are also sold to Hotels and Motels for rental which must be pretty successful.

On your article you posted, here is another one that supports HD DVD.
Jackie Ramos, the Vice President of DVD Production at Wicked Pictures, said this:

"We happen to feel that they do. We didn't negate…we still haven't negated Blu-ray, but it was much more cost effective to go with HD DVD."

The article is here if you want to read it. It was posted about a week and a half ago.

hade said: "when's the last time you went out and actually bought some dirty movies anyway?"

LOL i don't think that's the point. It's just that if you want to sell something to the widest possible audience you don't lock out a good portion of your sales (in this case to adult video audience) through licensing. There is no technological limit to an Adult Studio putting out their products on Blu-ray. However, Sony won't officially license the product use to them. What's the chance of Sony suing a company if it chooses to use Blu-ray? Not likely.

What probably scares Sony is having some teenager get a hold of an adult movie and play it on their PS3. That could be a huge story in the media. "Sony's PS3 allows teen to watch porn." LOL that would def make GTA & Hot Coffee look like child's play.

the way pron preses out videos they are 15-30% of all DVDs currently,I bought 2 and crist for stuff that gets old quick it aint worth more than 2$ !
I rent them now its nto bad at 15 for 2-4 movies every now and then,I am trying in vain to find something in adult videos I like....and well.....its all meh 0-o

First, it was Intel, Microsoft, Matsushita, Warner Brothers, Sony, IBM, Toshiba and The Walt Disney Company. Now, it is Hitachi, LG Electronics, Matsushita Electric, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony and Thomson Multimedia.
All of their hard work to create non-pirated HD formats, and it was circumvented in a matter or months. No matter what they dish out, hackers, pirates, trackers, or even the Average Joe will eventually crack all of these DRM's and anti-piracy measures. I think it's about time to invest all of that money for these things and put it into creating a lower cost product with less bugs.

I deal in adult dvd sales and people really do care about the quality, the better it is the happier they are. When you spend $40 a DVD...they want quality. As per Sony being scared that a teen can put in it the PS3 and watch porn...not really any different than a PS2. That plays porn. Plays copied discs too. And I assume that the PS3 also plays standard DVDs...well there again you can watch porn. If Sony got wind of an adult company putting their porn on Blu-ray...you bet your A** Sony would sue...they are huge and why not go after another billion dollar business in lawsuit? They are probably waiting for an adult company to fault and make one, just for that HUGE lawsuit. As for you ZIppyDSM...you just need to decide who and what interests you. After you get an idea of what you really like to see, then you can base your choices on that. There are sites like www.iafd.com that offer DVD reviews, that could be helpful to you. Whether you like wild, mild, or extreme...you think of it and it is on a DVD. Invest in a burner or make friends with someone that already has one...it helps in cost and burning is a snap!

Blu-ray is not offering a superior picture quality nor sound quality when compared to HD-DVD.

720p/1080i & 1080p are the resolutions used and they can each produce them perfectly well.

What you do find though is that the HD-DVD movies are often much better in terms of picture quality
(because the codecs used are more modern & are superior)
and the sound quality is often greatly superior because,
unlike most Blu-ray movies to date, true Dolby HD sound is used.

It's a useful comparison when looking at Warner & Paramount releases (they release in both formats);
the HD-DVD release invariablty has the better PQ & SQ.

It's true that technically Blu-ray has the potential for a faster data transfer rate but seeing as we can already get 'transparency' with the master copy with HD-DVD that's obviously just the misunderstood ramblings from someone obsessed with spec-sheets who hasn't a clue about what it means in the real world;
in other words it's a pretty empty & pointless boast.

Even boasts of a larger size are now redundant with the 51gb TL HD-DVD disc appearing.

(and don't give me that cr@p about the 100/200gb vaporware - it took them long enough to get DL working.
4 layers+ is not coming any time soon - God only knows at what price - and even if it does appear your 1st & 2nd gen Blu-ray players/burners can't use them and you have to buy all over again to make use of this supposedly vital feature.)

BTW is there any sign of the actual standard being finished & settled upon yet?
(There are 4 current specs for Blu-ray and no single product on the market meets all 4 yet.)

The real truth here is how tiny both new formats are still when compared to SD DVD......and the apparantly 1.1 million PS3s sold to date just aren't creating the huge avalanche in Blu-ray movie sales some dreamed of.

(interestingly using the PS3 as a movie player is the worst possible outcome for Sony as it batters them financially quite badly, it's sold at a loss, supposedly, and the don't get the added income from games)

.....and the lifespan of a blue laser is currently 3years 'normal' use; so combining a single movie player and games machine might not have been the greatest idea.
Wait and see.

hughjars has a point. In our household we have gone through 3 PS2's...well we are on our 3rd now and it does not always act the greatest. That was with moderate to heavy game play at times and minor DVD viewing. But truth be told...they were not built to last. A way for Sony to make their money I suppose...I just can not imagine they would put more effort into making the PS3 much better. IF I ever decide to get one...it will not be used for DVD vieweing EVER that is for sure. I can not afford to keep paying Sony for inferior product...and the PS3 is more than the PS2 ever was.

And as for DL DVDs...anyone burned one? They take too long...and now the though of a 4layer, I will stick to my single layer DVD+R's...they work fine for me and only 8 minutes to burn. Much more cost and time efficient I think. I am steering far from the Blu-ray hype...the price for this stuff is outrageous...just to back something up...not worth it to me. I will use the DL DVD-R, but sparingly as time is valuable and I do not have time to sit and wait for a DVD that is just slightly better than a single layer DVD+R.

Originally posted by no1ndfan:And as for DL DVDs...anyone burned one? They take too long...and now the though of a 4layer, I will stick to my single layer DVD+R's

- Yeah true but the idea that a 4 layer or more disc can be used for movies is pure fantasy.

Both specs had triple layer in their original designs so that is known to work & be fine.

But the bit they don't like to talk about is what happens when you go beyond 3 layers.
After 3 layers the data transfer rate slows right down because you have to check for data corruption (because it's coming through so many layers).

That means that whilst it's true that 4 or more layers can be used for lots of raw data storage (but like I said, God knows at what cost for the media or the appropriate burners/readers) the notion that you can store huge numbers of movies or TV shows to be read in real time (like we do with our DVDs now) is just a day-dream based on ignorance.

This is the kind of myth and BS you get when the fanboy shills start to trumpet these supposed benefits and specifications without really understanding what they are talking about.....cos the info they have is read off of a dumbed-down PR release in some fanzine.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 02 Feb 2007 @ 4:54

The real problem is not knowing which of Blu-ray or HD DVD are better, but weither if HD VMD format will succeed.
To me, this is the most promising format.
-It is free of branding, a research organisation came up with this format, not a commercial enterprise.
-It uses red laser (not blue laser) so it's more affordable and last longer, plus it could be used on our PC DVD Roms just with a driver upgrade.
-It has a capacity of 24 Gb and can go up to 48Gb just with the red-laser.
-It can be used with the blue laser for a higher storage capacity, probably more interesting when prices and life-span of blue laser will be more reasonable.
-It can play 1920X1080i/p HD format with a higher bitrate than both HD DVD and Blu-ray : 40Mbps versus 36Mbps.
-The HD VMD players expected prices are 100$ to 200$.Way cheaper than HD DVD or Blue Ray ! Plus they are 100% backward compatible (DVD,CD).
-The disc support is also way cheaper around 1.20$ for VMD disc against 15$ and more for HD DVD and Blu-ray.
-The only fault in this format is that it is not known enought yet, especialy in the Northen American continent. But Warner seems to already endorse this format.
official site : www.nmeinc.com

Quote:Although I personally do not watch Adult Films its a fact that the Industry produced $12 billion in 2006 alone says that although you and I might not be buying Pr0n subscriptions or DVDs someone has to be. DVDs are made and sold at stores, although not where you can see them obviously. DVDs are also sold to Hotels and Motels for rental which must be pretty successful.

are you saying they had profits of 12billion from dvd sales alone or the industry as a whole? the sale of novelty items im sure is a big contributor given that, that number represents the industry at large. how many females do you know actively collect or own naugthy movies, but how many have say a "friend"? also as you said above about dvds sold at hotels or motels for rental purposes, it still doesn't support the idea that people are actually buying the physical movie. how is renting a movie any different then say downloading it off the web, which is why i asked whens the last time people bought them? i think the means of distribution is changing and much like the availability of music on the web, people really don't have to go out to a store and shell out the cash for it. being the tech savy site this is im sure the majority of users know all too well where to look or find the things that get them excited...

Quote: The real truth here is how tiny both new formats are still when compared to SD DVD......and the apparantly 1.1 million PS3s sold to date just aren't creating the huge avalanche in Blu-ray movie sales some dreamed of

.
well that may just be right, but i also think there is some hidden truth to that statement. primarily the reason in my mind why sales of movies is not going through the ceiling on either format, has to do with the selection of titles that is available. i mean seriously how many people are going to run out and by 3,5,10...n+ year old movies that they probably already own on DVD??? or if they didn't own it on dvd why the hell would they all of a suddden want to own this stuff now??? it doesn't really make all that much sense in my head, but it also could be ignorance on my part as i am not an avid follower of the two formats.

the one thing i will say that would definately have had an impact on sales for atleast Blu-ray, would have been the release of Pirates of the Caribbean during the holiday rush, much like it was released (i think) at that time on DVD. thats just my thought, personally i think that movie with the market at the time of Blu-ray players (PS3 about 500k) would have been more than a success in terms of comparing sales to its competitor. i really don't see a movie at that time for HD-DVD that would be able to compete. maybe overall sales betweenn HD-DVD and that movie but no one movie. i prefer Blu-ray simply because i have a ps3, but i don't really hate HD-DVD or anything and im not sure
why so many have short fuses or seem so devoted to one over the other.

its just in my best personal interest for Blu-ray to come out on top as i don't really have any desire of buying a 360 any time soon let alone a standalone player...

it may be a shock for some but i really don't see this format war ending any time soon this year, and to continually poke at one another on this site is absurd. it is getting to the point where i think all the nonstop bickering is actually ruining certain sections here. just another thread theres some guy attacking a member, f this and u, x is way better than y and so on. hopefully people will be able to voice their opinions in a civil manner and have sane open discussions.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 02 Feb 2007 @ 7:16

ok so they both have potential but blue ray still produces a better picture, now with the deal with porn that will cripple the blue ray industry if they don't correct their mistake . but i am still for blue ray. blue ray all the way.

Microsoft backs HD DVD. That's enough for me to avoid that format. I'm no big fan of Sony, but I'll take them over MS. I won't spend money on either until the "war" is over and a winner is chosen. Actually, I'm betting that with all the buzz around 3-D content and displays that another format will come along and obsolete both HD DVD and Blu-ray sooner than later.

hey look everyone. [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holographic_Versatile_Disc]HVD format[/url]
It can hold 3.9TB (roughly 80x a full Blu-ray DL) & offers faster speeds, which would be perfect for streaming videogames & action movies. They are also working on using the best available codecs/latest tech when it does come to market someday.
Best of all, it is not supported by Sony or Microsoft! I say the future of high-def DVD is not Blu-ray or HD-DVD. It's HVD

If you haven't red my post that format is already there it's : HD VMD (High Definition Versatile Multilayer Disc ) I won't repeat everything here so look for my post. : )
For comparision between formats look here :
http://www.nmeinc.com/comparisonchart.htm
Their site seem a bit slow (may be some big companies are not happy about it, or the public is just too interrested about it :-) )
My opinion is already made on this format, build your on.
But for my part this solution is the best in all aspects : capacity, evolutionwise, moneywise, bigbrother free, etc.. it just needs more publicity. It's already very talked about in Europe, Taiwan, Japan, etc.. We need to let the public knw about it here in America.
Why should we pay some much for a HD movie when affordable technologie (even with AACS securities) available.
Sony, and HDDVD consorcium just want us to rembourse their investments in a technology that is just to expensive for what it does.
Let us not fall into their marketing trap.

xhardc0re
HDV has been around for a year now, but even if the concept is great, the device to read the disc is way to expensive and rather huge ! People already complain about Blu-ray and HD DVD players to be expensive, but this is even worse ! May be in a few years, but definetly not now.
Look toward VMD (Versatile Multilayer Disc ) if look for an alternative.

Quote:Blu-ray is not offering a superior picture quality nor sound quality when compared to HD-DVD

They are both the same HD-DVD & Blu-ray use the same codec's.Neither has a edge on picture quality.Blu-Ray offer the better sound they use PCM 5.1 which is a uncompressed sound which in the future will go up to 7.1 i hear.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 02 Feb 2007 @ 10:25

Quote:[They are both the same HD-DVD & Blu-ray use the same codec's.
Neither has a edge on picture quality.
Blu-Ray offer the better sound they use PCM 5.1 which is a uncompressed sound which in the future will go up to 7.1 i hear.

- No.

It is HD-DVD that is offering Dolby HD sound right now in the most numbers.

Blu-ray - with a very few excpetions - does not.

Quote:Dolby® TrueHD is Dolby’s next-generation lossless technology developed for high-definition disc-based media. Dolby TrueHD delivers tantalizing sound that is bit-for-bit identical to the studio master, unlocking the true high-definition entertainment experience on next-generation discs. When coupled with high-definition video, Dolby TrueHD offers an unprecedented home theater experience that lets you enjoy sound as stunning as the high-definition picture.

Features
100 percent lossless coding technology.
Up to 18 Mbps bit rate.
Supports up to eight full-range channels of 24-bit/96 kHz audio.*
Supported by High-Definition Media Interface (HDMI™), the new single-cable digital connection for audio and video.
Supports extensive metadata including dialogue normalization and dynamic range control.
*Dolby TrueHD can support more than eight audio channels. HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc standards currently limit their maximum number of audio channels to eight.

Quote:[edit] HD DVD titles with TrueHD
The Phantom of the OperaTraining Day
Constantine
Troy
The Perfect Storm
The Wicker Man
End of Days
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (isolated music-only track)
Batman Begins
V for Vendetta
Superman Returns
Lady in the Water
The Ant Bully
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (UK only)
Clerks II
Pulse
Beside You in Time
Poseidon
The Departed
Happy Feet
Manilow Live!
Heart: Alive In Seattle

[edit] Blu-ray titles with TrueHD
Nine Inch Nails - Beside you in Time
Legends of Jazz With Ramsey Lewis Showcase

Microsoft: Ps3 cant do 60fps on 1080p. Guess what they were WRONG!!!!!
(11/19/05 - 9/19/06) Microsoft: Sony's 1080p support on PS3 is all Hype and Not Needed.
(9/20/06) Microsoft: Xbox 360 to add 1080p support.

The adult industry does matter as if i want a hddvd of smut i'll just buy it online... so sony is basically saying that it is damming sex but supports violence?? what kind of thinking is that? it's like saying teach your kids how to hate and it's ok but don't f*ck that's bad... great message that's probrably why we have so much violence in todays world. if Blu-ray has restrictions as to what it plays then i choose hddvd.

little late response.
as to whoever was talking about hd and how much better it is, well its not, its smaller, and yeah there is tl now, but you have to buy a new hd player, because 1st gens wont play them.
when blu ray makes their tl youll have to buy new hardware as well, but it will hold 75 gigs. sony's movie sales havent soared since the ps3 release?
they have caught up to hd already in the last 2 months.
and they dont even have as many titles out, not even close. That is the reason blu ray doesnt have as many dtrue dolby dvd's, is because they dont have as many anything out yet.
i dont really care much, but i think blu ray has more potential, and they are looking like they are pulling ahead in sales already. Sales will only grow more and more leaving hddvd behind. i give it 1.5 years.

Originally posted by redrumbrg:ok so they both have potential but blue ray still produces a better picture, now with the deal with porn that will cripple the blue ray industry if they don't correct their mistake . but i am still for blue ray. blue ray all the way.

i dont know where you get this from. blue ray does not produce a better picture. industry wide comparisons done by independent testers has shown that hd - dvd is the standard to compare to.

i have a ps3 and a toshiba hda1 ..the cheapest of all hd players and a Pioneer Elite 50" 1080p plasma ..the HD DVD BLOWS AWAY the blue ray hands down.

Quote:[quote]Blu-ray is not offering a superior picture quality nor sound quality when compared to HD-DVD

They are both the same HD-DVD & Blu-ray use the same codec's.Neither has a edge on picture quality.Blu-Ray offer the better sound they use PCM 5.1 which is a uncompressed sound which in the future will go up to 7.1 i hear.[/quote]this is wrong too. HD-DVD sends out lossless uncompressed multichannel audio .... translation - UNCOMPRESSED. almost all hd-dvd's play uncompressed 7.1 ..ive yet to find a 7.1 blueray.

Originally posted by raceman94:You know how long it would take to download a 22GB file on bittorrent?

- On a decent connection with decent speeds it's not so long, even with a slow connection you're only talking a couple of days......which as anyone who remembers the days of dial-up knows is nothing.

Originally posted by tnarulz: (Junior Member) 17 February 2007 8:20
raceman94: Not only downloading would be a long time but seeding ugh that would take forever (if you live in the US outside of the areas that offer fiber optic).

- Not really, it can take a while yes of course but if your PC is running 24/7 what's the big deal?
It takes as long as it takes.

Quote:Assuming there's anyone here that's played Blu-ray discs on their PC, is it worth it to upgrade to a video card and monitor that supports HDCP in addition to putting in a Blu-ray reader?

- I believe you'll need at least a series 7 Nvidia card or a x1600 onwards ATI.
HDCP is no big deal right now with the right software but it might become so in future, it's an easy one to cover when you next buy a monitor cos they all look like they're getting it.

BTW all the talk of huge Blu-ray capacities, I've yet to see one up for d/l that's bigger than 24gb.

Actually most HD-DVD releases have a Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtrack which is compressed up to 3MBits/sec. A few releases have a lossles Dolby TruHD 5.1 soundtrack such as Superman Returns and The Departed among others.

There are two other other forms of lossless soundtracks: uncompressed LPCM (example: The Departed on BluRay) and DTS Master Lossless Audio (example: Fantastic Four on BluRay).